


(you and i are) a perfect match

by schism



Category: Gotham (TV)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Chess, Ice Cream, M/M, a cozy safehouse apartment somewhere in gotham city, idiots in love who won't admit they're in love despite it being high time for them to do so, you know how it goes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-02
Updated: 2018-04-02
Packaged: 2019-04-17 14:41:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,620
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14191224
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/schism/pseuds/schism
Summary: The one where Ed finds an old chessboard, or, a 4x15 coda.





	(you and i are) a perfect match

**Author's Note:**

> disclaimer: i don't actually play chess myself so lmk if i blundered too badly...
> 
> enjoy!

It’s completely by happenstance that Ed finds an old chessboard in the apartment they’ve holed up in.

Well, more precisely, in the apartment he’d deposited Martin in after getting him some ice cream. And even though it had been more of a detour than Ed would’ve liked, he’d figured the kid deserved it after everything he’d been through.

And after being tortured and several near-death experiences in one day…

Maybe getting himself some more ice cream isn’t a bad idea – it would do well to soothe the ache in his gums now that the worst of the damage to his mouth has been treated. So, Ed makes his way to the small but comfortable kitchen, grabs a spoon from a drawer and a pint of mint chocolate chip from the freezer. He’s about to return to the living room when he notices what appears to be the corner of a battered foldable chessboard sticking out from a half-closed cabinet.

For a moment, he pauses, spoon in one hand and tub of ice cream in the other, staring at the chessboard. He spends another moment wondering whether it’s really a chessboard or perhaps just some container for cutlery that looks an awful lot like a chessboard.

In the end, his curiosity gets the best of him and he opens the tub of ice cream to dig the spoon in before reaching out to pull the container, whatever it may be, out of the cabinet. A cursory examination reveals that it is indeed a chessboard, surprisingly enough with all the pieces, and he tucks it under his arm before returning to the living room.

Ed almost drops his haul when he sees Oswald, his back to the kitchen door. He must’ve arrived when Ed was in the kitchen – or maybe Ed just can’t hear as well as he used to. In either case, though, he’s staring out the window at the hints of the setting sun somewhere on the horizon, probably biting at his thumbnail. He’s still wearing the same coat as when Ed had last seen him, but he’s changed the Arkham uniform underneath in favour of a suit.

It’s almost like looking at a familiar stranger.

“Martin’s in the other room, asleep,” Ed says quietly after a moment, frowning slightly when Oswald starts at the sound of his voice.

“I know,” is the equally quiet but unequally curt response he gets.

Fair enough, Ed supposes, although he’d figured…

Well. It doesn’t really matter, does it, if Oswald hasn’t reached the same conclusion.

After a brief and slightly awkward moment of silence, he says, “A slow, solemn square-dance of warriors feinting. One by one they fall, warriors fainting, thirty-two on sixty-four. What am I?”

Oswald turns only to frown at him. “What are you talking about?”

“I found an old chessboard in the kitchen,” Ed answers, setting the ice cream down on the coffee table, holding said chessboard up with his now free hand. “It has all the pieces.”

“Good for you,” Oswald replies, and doesn’t say anything else.

And, honestly, Ed had thought they had reached a kind of a truce after their third trip to the docks ( _well, fourth if you count_ that _time, too_ , a small part of Ed’s mind whispers – and it’s a part he chooses to ignore) but… maybe not.

Still…

“How about a game, for old times’ sake?” he asks, the words leaving his mouth before he can stop himself.

After all, he _could_ just take his ice cream and go, since his presence doesn’t appear to be very welcome right now, but…

Sitting alone in a stolen car and eating ice cream seems far too miserable, given his current circumstances.

Oswald doesn’t reply for a moment, and Ed opts to look at the spoon sticking out of the tub of ice cream. The spoon tips ever so slightly in the ice cream that has started to melt far quicker than he’d expected it to.

Then again, perhaps Ed needs to re-evaluate his expectations.

He’s nearly made up his mind to grab the tub and go when Oswald finally says, “Alright,” as the corner of his mouth twitches ever the slightest bit upwards.

So, Ed smiles the slightest bit himself and sits down on the sofa to set up the board before picking the ice cream up and taking a heaping spoonful.

Oswald shirks off the coat before settling down opposite him. “You know you’ll need to do a saltwater rinse after you’re done eating,” he says almost casually, and if Ed didn’t know him as well as he does, he’d miss the hint of concern in Oswald’s eyes.

“You sound like Lee,” he replies instead of addressing said concern. Which… he’ll think about it later, he decides after a moment’s consideration.

Oswald huffs in response.

Something curious flutters beneath Ed's ribcage.

“Black or white?” Oswald asks after a moment, shaking off whatever his huffing was about.

“Black,” Ed replies, indicating the current position of the board. “You’ll need all the advantages you can get.”

“Has anyone ever told you you’re full of yourself?” Oswald says, but it doesn’t sound… he doesn’t make it sound like it’s a bad thing, is the thing.

It’s… nice, is what it is.

So, Ed doesn’t comment on it aside from giving a small shrug and telling him to make the first move.

Oswald responds by swiftly moving a pawn to c4.

Ed narrows his eyes and moves a knight to f6.

Oswald huffs a laugh before moving a knight to c3.

Ed moves a pawn to g6 in response, getting another spoonful of ice cream in the meantime as Oswald contemplates his next move.

They play quietly for a while, Oswald managing to take one of Ed’s rooks before Ed takes one of his. On the twenty-seventh move, Oswald’s queen takes Ed’s, and he tries to stop himself from laughing too hard when his king takes Oswald’s queen in the following half-move as Oswald growls quietly in frustration.

It takes thirty-seven more moves until there are only six pieces left on the board – three white and three black. The sky outside has darkened completely, the only hint of light the faint glow of streetlights from somewhere down below. If it weren’t for the lit floor lamp in the corner of the room, they’d be playing in complete darkness.

“Your move,” Ed says, contemplating the position of his pieces – his king on c2, a pawn on c5, and a rook on g8. The rook is useless unless Oswald moves his pawn from g6 where it’s been cemented for the past four moves.

Oswald frowns at the board before he moves his king from f4 to g5.

Ed frowns in response, momentarily unsure of what else he’d expected Oswald to do before moving his pawn to c4 after a brief assessment of the available moves.

Oswald pauses for a moment, then moves his other pawn from f5 to f6.

The ice cream is long gone by now, the empty tub sweating out its last condensation on the table beside their discarded pieces. Ed wonders briefly if he should’ve offered some to Oswald while there was still some left.

A few seconds later, he remembers what he’s currently doing and moves his pawn to c3 without thinking too much of it.

Another moment later, he almost slaps himself. Because if Oswald moves his pawn to f7…

Which he does, almost the instant Ed thinks of it.

They stare at the board incredulously for a few moments.

It’s a stalemate.

Oswald is the first to break the silence: he laughs, quietly at first and a little bit louder a moment later when Ed joins him, hesitant at first but stronger as the seconds pass by.

Ed thinks they’d laugh until they’re both breathless – or at least, he thinks so until Oswald stops to gasp for a breath before saying they need to pipe down or else they’ll wake up Martin.

Which…

To be fair, Ed had almost forgotten the reason he was even at the apartment.

In any case, after that, it’s as if a spell has been broken. Ed coughs, the dull ache in his mouth flaring up thanks to the movement. “I… should get going,” he says once the ache has faded into a blunt soreness. “Riddles to tell, people to kill, you know how it is. I’m sure you’ve got plenty to do yourself.”

Oswald nods reluctantly but doesn’t say anything for a moment.

_If only he just…_ Ed stops himself from following the thread of thought before it leads him into dangerous territory. So, he stands up and turns to go, even though it’s the last thing he wants to do.

“See you around, Oswald,” he says before undoing the deadbolt and the various locks on the front door.

“Don’t forget your saltwater rinses,” Oswald says quietly once Ed’s halfway out the door – quietly enough that Ed almost doesn’t hear it. He does, though, and contemplates his decision to leave for the _n_ th time.

And Oswald must’ve noticed his pause – Ed can hear his breathing hitch for a moment before it resumes in its normal fashion.

_Just say…_

But he doesn’t – not when Ed wants him to.

Or at least not the second Ed wants him to because after another moment of silence with Ed still standing in the doorway like a fool, Oswald clears his throat. “I… wouldn’t mind if you stayed,” he says, and it’s more than enough encouragement for Ed to close the door in front of himself and turn back around.

“How about a rematch?” he asks, feeling the corners of his mouth twitch as Oswald huffs a laugh and resets the board.

**Author's Note:**

> props to you if you know what match i stole those moves from c:
> 
> find me on tumblr @ bctrogues


End file.
